Gov-Gen visits Belgium for Passchendaele Commemorn

The
Governor-General of New Zealand, the Honourable Anand
Satyanand, will honour the thousands of New Zealanders who
lost their lives or were injured during the Battle of
Passchendaele when he visits Belgium next week.

On October
12 1917, in what is now known as the Third Battle of Ypres
(Passchendaele), more than 800 New Zealanders died and more
than 2,000 wounded in one morning alone. It was the most
disastrous day in New Zealand’s military history. The
battle had begun the previous July and the ruins of
Passchendaele were eventually captured by Canadian forces.
New Zealand forces remained in the area until 12 April
1918.

On Thursday July 12, the Governor-General and Her
Excellency Susan Satyanand will represent New Zealand at the
90th anniversary commemorations being held at Tyne Cot
cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission
cemetery in the world. The Governor General will also
privately lay a wreath in the New Zealand Apse (part of the
cemetery’s Memorial to the Missing). The battle was
initially scheduled to begin on July 12, although did not
actually begin until 31 July.

They will also attend the
inauguration of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
Memorial and the Official Opening of the Tyne Cot Visitors
Centre by Queen Paola of Belgium, and Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II. They will also meet the Mayor of Ieper (Ypres
in French), Luc Dehaene and take part in a special Last Post
Ceremony at the Menin Gate, Ieper, where His Excellency will
lay a wreath.

On Friday 13 July, Their Excellencies will
visit the New Zealand Memorial at Mesen and tour the
Messines Ridge Battlefield with noted New Zealand military
historian, Dr Christopher Pugsley, who is a Senior Lecturer
in War Studies at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. At
noon, the Governor-General will unveil a work of art by
Kingsley Baird, who is the first New Zealander to be the
Artist-in-Residence at the In Flanders Field Museum in
Ieper. Mr Baird also designed the Tomb of the Unknown
Warrior in Wellington. They will also visit and lay a
wreath at the New Zealand Memorial at ‘s-Graventafel,
which is on the site of the Passchendaele battlefield.

The Governor-General said the Battle of Passchendaele
stood alongside the Gallipoli Campaign as a landmark point
in New Zealand’s history.

“The Battle of Passchendaele
was one of the bloodiest battles of World War I and October
12 1917 was the most disastrous in New Zealand’s military
history. Given that New Zealand’s population at that time
was little over a quarter of what it is today, the thousands
of deaths and injuries suffered made an indelible mark on
New Zealand society. As with ANZAC Day, the Passchendaele
Commemorations are an opportunity to remember and to pay
tribute to those who so bravely served their
country.”

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